Voters Will Remember Who Took Their Health Care Away

Statement by NOW President Terry O’Neill

05.04.2017

Today’s narrow vote for a disastrous health care bill will come back to haunt House Republicans. The members of Congress who voted for this bill have sealed their fate with the electorate. Billionaires and conservative superPACs may have bought their vote today, but they can’t buy a blindfold big enough to keep voters from seeing the truth.

The truth is that this bill will take health insurance away from tens of millions of people, many of whom are already living at the margins. The bill encourages mean-spirited Republican governors to opt out of the essential health benefits that are a lifeline to so many, and to allow insurance companies to deny benefits to tens of thousands of people with pre-existing conditions.

Under the AHCA, surviving sexual assault or domestic violence, battling postpartum depression, or having a cesarean section would all be considered pre-existing conditions–at a staggering cost to women. Black women are at a disproportionate risk for breast cancer than other racial and ethnic groups, and breast cancer survivors would see their premiums shoot up by over $28,000.

Now, it’s up to voters to deny their bought-and-paid for members of Congress another term in office. We will make it our top priority to unseat everyone who voted for this extremist attack on our health care rights today.